the sky- oh, it melted into a sea of browns and blues
and the lightning in your eyes screamed,
we have nothing to lose.
----

22 km: COMPLETED.

And even better: Flo and I; we came in 1st [uh huh, champion!] for the junior women's T2 category!

Booyeahhhhh. Thankyew, Jesus. You were canoeing with us all the way. <3
Gaspshockhorror, I totally didn't expect to even survive the marathon, let alone come in first. ...'Specially considering the fact that there was a mix-up, and we started the marathon six minutes later than the rest of the people in our category. Which- after all- is still six minutes and you can do tons of things! in six minutes.

It was tough, though. Kinduv like a verrrry amplified version of our 2.4 km run. [understatement!] It was just agggggges of rowing and rowing and rowing and...

(...an hour later:)

...and rowing and rowing and rowing and rowing; and I had to come up with the lamest things to keep myself distracted/occupied. I shan't reveal all of the strange things I came up with; 'cuz I'll most likely get laughed off the internet.

...But I can and will reveal that I was yaddling songs to myself in my head. I found out that Jean was singing 'Fergalicious' to herself while canoeing. ...Poor darling! It's the heat, it is. Does strange things to people.

&when all you've gotta keep is strong;
move along, move along like I know you do.
& even when your hope is gone
move along, move along just to make it through.

Thank you, All American Rejects. I owe y'all one. ...Next time y'guys mosey over to Singapore, I'll get Maxy to toss knickers onstage kay.

Oh, and. I came up with these neat stories in my head. Example.
"...The sky hung menacingly over the grey-veiled waters as the painted boats below fought the angry waves tenaciously. Elven eyes strained against the stinging seaspray [kay, so we were canoeing in a reservoir- but whatev.]; and taut muscles shifted under bronzed skin as arms strained, shuddered, and battled the waves that growled and slammed against the small, determined vessels."

I also imagined that I was Pocahontas. :D And that all the other canoeists were Indian braves; and we were fighting the pendulum of a treacherous journey to get to the New World.
It helped, okay.
And no, I didn't have sunstroke. [/offended!]

And I remember that at one point I was feeling kinduv irked because Maxy had a 'NEVER GIVE UP' sticker taped onto her canoe and I didn't; plus I was bored and tired and I needed something to focus on, so I started channelling energy from the trees around the shore and hoping for a sign, or at least for a NEVER GIVE UP! sticker to magically fall from the sky.
...Then I looked back down, and lo and behold! - there was a piece of seaweed on the front of my canoe. ...I had no idea how it got there, but it was a sign kay.
So remember. seaweed= never, never give up.
I'll remember that the next time I go for an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet. Mmm, seaweed soba.

So yes; Flo and I rowed and rowed, and it got puhretty bad because the wind would either stop altogether [so it'd feel as if we were rowing and getting nowhere], or the wind and waves would just whip up and battle against our boat. [so we'd row and get nowhere.]

BUT we did it. We were brave girls, Flo, and we did it! ...Thanks for being such an awesome senior; I doubt I'd have made so much progress without your constant tiredbutdogged half-grunt-half-yells of "Come on- we have nothing to lose!", and "All the wayyyyy!".
You helped me believe in myself. So thank you. I think we did awesome. <3

...After we'd finished rowing the 22km, our hands looked dead. Honestly, our hands looked like something out of Saw: The Movie. It was sick.
Andand! Memorable Quote #2 of the day:

Jean: How come Mr. Yong needs us to recycle all the 100 plus cans?
Clayton: ...Because he wants to make a CAN-oe!
[cueuproariouslaughter!]

AND. Not forgetting- the MOST [by far] Memorable Quote Of The Day. Ahem.

"...My humps are too tired to lift." - Maxy.

I almost DIED laughing. Obviously someone didn't drink enough water and Accelerate.
Permanent brain damage.
[...but Maxy came in 2nd overall for our category. BOOYAH, bestie. You own!]


...So mhm, after everything [prizes, yay!]; Jean and I hitched a ride from a coupluv really fun PJC canoeists. [It looked as if we were being kidnapped- two 15yearold red&whites in a sea of black&white 18yearolds.]
[And we were in the back of a truck!]
[...Likelike a group of illegal immigrants.]
[...With manymany canoes. Can't forget the canoes.]

I wanted to sleep in the truck; but I couldn't lean back 'cuz I kept getting impaled on a wooden splinter. Oh, and. I almost fell out of the truck. Once.

HEADLINES: NJC CANOEIST FALLS OUT OF TRUCK, RUN OVER BY MOTORCYCLIST HIGH ON NEWTON FOOD CENTRE SAMBAL STINGRAY.
LAST WORDS HEARD TO BE: "...BUT I'M TOO AWESOME TO DIEEEEE...."

Mhm, so all in all: today was LE AWESOMENESS.
I'd like to thank GOD for seeing us through; Daddy for waking up at five plus a.m. to send me to the meeting point; NJCanoeing for the support and spirit; Flo for being there for me [we completed it together!]; Ryan for saying hello; and of course! - you, my beloved fans/taggers/same difference :] for the love and best wishes.

yay, today owned.

<3!